FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Minerva Dorantes, a doctoral student in crop, soil and environmental sciences at the University of Arkansas, is one of 100 doctoral students in the U.S. and Canada selected to receive a $15,000 Scholar Award from the P.E.O. Sisterhood, a philanthropic educational organization dedicated to supporting high-achieving women pursuing doctoral degrees. She was sponsored by Chapter BH of Fayetteville.

Dorantes graduated from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign with a bachelor's degree in natural resources and environmental sciences. She later received her master's degree in soil science from Purdue University. While doing her master's, she was exposed to international research in soil science and collaborated with regional agencies in Latin America. This inspired her to teach soil science to broad communities including those outside of the United States. Shortly after receiving her master's degree, Dorantes became the project manager for an ongoing regional effort to build capacities in soil technologies in Central America. She has trained multidisciplinary groups and she has presented her work at various global conferences. Her doctoral research at the University of Arkansas is focused on the application of proximal sensing technologies for modeling soil properties with agronomic applications. 

"I am so humbled to have received this prestigious award and I am very grateful to my P.E.O. chapter and to my P.E.O. mentor, Dr. Stacy Williams, for her encouragement and support throughout the application process," Dorantes said. "This award will bring me closer to reaching my academic goals and contributing to the scientific community through my research."

The P.E.O. Scholar Awards were established in 1991 to provide substantial merit-based awards for women of the United States and Canada who are pursuing a doctoral-level degree at an accredited college or university. Scholar Awards recipients are a select group of women chosen for their high level of academic achievement and their potential for having a positive impact on society.

About the P.E.O Sisterhood: The P.E.O. Sisterhood, founded Jan. 21, 1869, at Iowa Wesleyan College, Mount Pleasant, Iowa, is a philanthropic educational organization dedicated to supporting higher education for women. There are approximately 6,000 local chapters in the United States and Canada with nearly a quarter of a million active members.